NEW YORK — Martin Luther King Jr.'s son is urging passage of a controversial New York City wage bill.

In a statement to be issued Monday on the 43rd anniversary of his father's assassination, Martin Luther King III says the majority of City Council members back the legislation and he urges "the rest to embrace it."

A Council hearing on the bill is expected later this month. It would require most businesses in city-subsidized developments to pay up to $11.50 an hour in wages. That's more than the state's $7.25 minimum wage.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg opposes the bill because he says it will hurt economic development.

King lives in Atlanta but sits on the board of Drum Major Institute, a New York-based, liberal think tank.